World Heritage island in Australia threatened by rabbits and rats
Sydney, Australia – Cruise passengers heading south this season will be in for a shock when they see what rabbits, rats and mice have done to one of Australia's World Heritage islands in the Southern Ocean.
Invasive animals have caused extensive damage to sub-Antarctic islands, such as Tasmania's Macquarie Island, with entire hill slopes denuded by rabbits, leaving seabirds without nesting grasses or shelter from predators.
Macquarie Island, 1500km south-east of Tasmania in the Southern Ocean, is a breeding ground for about four million seabirds, and provides critical habitat for two threatened albatross species: the wandering and grey-headed albatross.
But since the 1980s, rabbit numbers on the World Heritage-listed island have jumped from about 10,000 to more than 100,000 today, which has decimated the island's distinctive tussock grasses and coastal slopes that provide shelter and materials for nesting seabirds.
"The foundations of this unique seabird haven are being destroyed by rabbits," said Julie Kirkwood, WWF's Policy Officer for Invasive Species.
WWF is calling on the Australian and Tasmanian governments to implement a programme to fully eradicate rabbits and rats as a matter of urgency to save threatened albatross and petrels.
"Albatross are extremely faithful to their sites and are unlikely to breed anywhere else if their habitat is lost," Kirkwood added. "Rat and mice numbers are also growing on the island, with evidence of rats killing young petrels in their nests."
Adding to the pressures on albatross and other seabirds is illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Southern Ocean, including in the waters around Macquarie Island where long-line fishing is a major cause of seabird mortality.
Macquarie Island, along with Heard and Macdonald Islands, were nominated by the Australian government for World Heritage listing in 1996 in recognition of its ecological significance, and were listed as a World Heritage Area in 1997.
In addition to its four million seabirds, Macquarie Island is a breeding ground for about 850,000 pairs of royal penguins and 100,000 seals, making it a popular stop for Antarctic cruise operators.
"Up to now the important conservation role of Australia's islands as a sanctuary for native species has been undervalued and we need to ensure that rabbits, rats and other invasive species do not destroy these critical habitats," Kirkwood said.
Biodiversity in the Southern Ocean will be under the global spotlight at the end of October when government delegations from around the world meet in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart as part of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
For more information, please contact:
Anshuman Atroley
Communications Manager
WWF-India
Tel: +91-11-4150 4797
E-mail: aatroley@wwfindia.net
